We are excited to announce the special upcoming exhibition at the Katherine Nash Gallery located at the University of Minnesota.
Exhibition Description:
Allen Downs was an artist whose practice embraced drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and filmmaking. Allen Downs Life and Work: Winter Quarter in Mexico spans his creative practice, including drawings, paintings, digital photographs made from the original 2- ΒΌ" color slides, digital videos made from the original 8mm and 16 mm films, and ephemera. Some of the artworks in this exhibition have never been shown to the public. The exhibition coincides with the 40-year anniversary of the Winter Quarter in Mexico Program, founded and led by Professor Downs in 1972.
Over 250 students at the University of Minnesota participated in the Winter Quarter in Mexico under the artistic leadership of Allen Downs, and many more followed in the years after his involvement. The exhibition includes artworks in a wide variety of media made in Oaxaca by students and faculty at the University of Minnesota who attended the Winter Quarter in Mexico Program with Professor Downs.
Allen Downs earned an MA degree in painting and printmaking from the State University of Iowa in 1940 and also became an accomplished photographer and filmmaker. He was a professor of photography and film at the University of Minnesota from 1950 through 1977 where he established the Film Department in 1952. Professor Downs worked with scores of student artists, both in the Twin Cities and across the United States.